Question

The year 2020 was not a good one for Zealand Company accountants. The company made several financial accounting changes that year. Assume a 30% tax rate where appropriate.

First, the company changed the total useful life from 20 years to 13 years on an asset purchased January 1, 2017, for $350,000. The asset was originally expected to be sold for $50,000 at the end of its useful life, but that amount also was changed in 2020 to $200,000. Zealand applies the straight-line method of depreciation to this asset.

Second, the company changed from FIFO to LIFO but is unable to recreate LIFO inventory layers. The FIFO 2020 beginning and ending inventories are $30,000 and $45,000, respectively. The company expects LIFO to render income numbers more useful for prediction.

Third, the company changed to the straight-line method from the sum-of-years’-digits method on equipment purchased for $650,000 on January 1, 2016. The equipment has a $100,000 residual value and 10-year useful life. These values were not changed. The change in depreciation method was made to provide a better measure of expired equipment cost because the annual benefits derived from the asset have been relatively constant.

Fourth, an error in amortizing patents was discovered in 2020. Patents costing $510,000 on January 1, 2018, were amortized over their legal life (20 years). The accountant neglected to obtain an estimate of the patent’s economic life, which totals only 5 years. The entire cost of the patents was deducted for tax purposes when acquired.

Required:: Record the entries in 2020 necessary to make the accounting changes. Assume a tax rate of 30%.

Answer 1